


winter blooms (and autumn lies)

by yo_let_me_get_a_milkyway



Category: Alice by Heart - Sheik/Sater/Sater & Nelson
Genre: Aquariums, Awkward Romance, Dolphin Tale, Dolphins, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, I stg, Swimming, based off a true story, please dont drop any john laurens turtle jokes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26648470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yo_let_me_get_a_milkyway/pseuds/yo_let_me_get_a_milkyway
Summary: "You'll never know if you don't get in here," Alice yelled, diving back into the water. Alfred watched with nervous eyes as she swam around with possibly the most intelligent aquatic animal in the known ocean, in a pool full of fish liquid and dolphin chemical. She didn't seem to mind, latching gently onto Winter's fin and arriving out of the water with a joyous whoop.Oh well, he thought, rolling up the sleeves of his button up and dipping his bare feet in to check the water. It couldn't hurt him to go for a swim.
Relationships: Alfred Hallam/Alice Spencer
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	winter blooms (and autumn lies)

**Author's Note:**

> much love to the alice by heart discord! you guys are amazing and i wanted to write this. thank you for getting me in the jam of this fandom :))
> 
> this is inspired by dolphin tale and the story of winter the dolphin, but everything in this story is entirely fictional. i did my best to research, so the doctor lingo may confuse a little. nonetheless, i hope you enjoy this fic!

Alfred does not hate Alice Spencer and her stupid dolphins. 

In fact, he loves them. The dolphins, he means, not Alice, dear god he hopes not. Alfred has devoted the entirety of his life studying the ocean, the body of water that takes the vast expanse of 75% of Earth too much to be caring about Alice. The fish that lurk, the colorful coral that covers the sea floor, and the feeling of self appreciation that comes with helping rehabilitate them. Truth be told, he'd rather be out diving, but the lab felt a little like home to him.

He is reminded though, of how much of a pain dolphins (and dolphin enthusiasts) can be on a rehab mission. It's Cape Canaveral, all the way on the east coast of Florida, when he and his medic team sought out to save this bugger.

There was a crab trap - which he did not expect from a dolphin of all things, but it was not his fault it was lurking so close to Mosquito Lagoon - caught around the dolphin's tail as it squeaked mercifully. "Get her on the stretcher!" Alfred yelled, and Harold and Nigel loaded it with some urgency. Damn if the dolphin wasn't so fucking heavy.

See, this is the part where he's reminded how much of a pain it is to work with others. As he examined the severity of their situation, Nigel bumped into something, jostling the stretcher and making the dolphin tense up and shake. "Hey, what the hell?"

"Not my fault!" Nigel yelled back, heaving up. "Just please tell Alice to move faster!"

Ah yes, Alice Spencer, he thought. While the three of them hauled this (possibly) 200 pound animal, she was stuck holding the front of the stretcher, cooing at it as if it would ease the pain.

"Hey," she soothingly whispered, stroking over the dolphin. "You'll be fine."

The dolphin seemed to whimper in response, and Alice stood back up, coming back to full attention. "Apologies, Nigel. Let's get moving?"

"You know that it can't understand you," Alfred testified.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Shush, I can do what I want."

So yes, maybe he does hate working in a team.

They drive quickly, Alfred in the back with Angus securing the animal in its crate. The dolphin out of water is vulnerable out of its weightless environment, unable to swim freely, making it all the more to worry about. It squeals where it lays on its bottom, obviously in pain. Alfred winces - wouldn't he love to know what it feels like.

"She's losing blood in her tail," Angus states, their attention now on the crab trap. Piercing through, seeming like the dolphin's tail could be rendered useless. "What do you think we should do?"

"Don't provoke it yet," Alfred suggested. "Wait until we get access to the table. Then we can help out our little friend."

The ride was bumpy. Alice kept peeking through the back window while Alfred made sure to keep the dolphin moist and soaked, imperative that it don't dry out. "Try not to jostle the car so much!" Angus yelled, supposedly on his phone.

Nigel rolled his eyes. "I will, as long as we get this thing back in less than two hours. Shush back there!"

Alfred winced. It was going to be a long day.

\---

He was in fact right - the dolphin had lost mobility, rendering its tail useless.

In its tail only, but the tail was of importance. Their emergency responders had tried hard to restore the nerves, but the crab trap had sunk deep enough into the flesh that a few had been damaged. Numb, as if one had cut it off. As if to nail in the meaningfulness of the wound, it looked as if it was going to detach. Not necessarily appealing, but it’s not like appeal mattered in a case like this. Appeal was meant for SeaWorld and their shitty dolphin specialists.

"A dolphin cannot swim without a tail," he argued to Dr. Butridge, leader of all decisions made on the rehab animals. "Angus and Clarissa have done all they can to restore feeling to the dolphin’s nerves, but we are clinging onto nothing here!"

"A dolphin without a tail is a human with no legs," he stated as a matter of fact. "Except humans have two, and a dolphin cannot use a crutch. It's definitely going to have to stay here."

Alfred narrowed his eyes. "It's not like this has ever happened though. This stuff isn’t in the medical books. All rehab patients are supposed to be saved and put back out into the wild. A tailless dolphin is going to die looking for food because it can't swim."

Dr. Butridge sighed. "Well what do we do when we don't have a leg?"

"...Crawl?"

"Wrong answer, Alfred." He pulled out his phone, scrolling down his contact list and pausing to click on someone. "I have a friend who works in prosthetics. Veterans, men and women who have lost a limb. This is not so different a case."

Alfred took the Doctor's phone and whipped out his legal pad, jotting down the name and number in messy scrawl. "Doctor Tabatha Dedwin," he said to no one in particular, and Butridge nodded. "Looks like she’s got a tight schedule. Has she taken any aquatic anatomy courses?"

"I'm afraid not. You have though, and she'll make sure to see that she learns in the process."

"True," he answered, finally tearing out the pages. "I'll be seeing her once my shift. I'll be working in the turtle exhibit with Nigel for an hour."

He stood up to leave, stuffing the note in his lab coat pocket. "I trust you'll be quick about those turtles?" Dr. Butridge called out. Alfred laughed at him.

"I don't make it a habit to stay for too long."

Running out of the lab, Alfred passed by Med Bay, where they were taking care of some pelicans from the dock that got caught in soda can plastic. Everyone seemed to have something to do today, whether it be with the animal rehab or the visitors. Alfred made a quick deal of heading to the Turtle Bay, before he was stopped by-

_"Alllllfreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed! C'mere!"_

Dear god, it was Alice again. Cheerful, hyper-optimistic. Pep in her step Alice Spencer with a mouth that ran faster than the dolphins could swim. She worked with the disasters too, underwater (or in the water) every minute that they spoke. He visibly signed the cross on his forehead and prayed to whatever god he could that he could get away in time to see Nigel.

She was in the usual wet T-shirt, hair soaked as one of the dolphins - probably Nicholas, it's not like he remembered their names - sprayed water out of its hole. "How did the meeting with Dr. Butridge go? Are we going to save the dolphins? Where are you goi-"

"This is all above your clearance," Alfred grumbled. "Except for that last question though. I'm headed to the Turtle Bay to take care of some stuff before I leave for my shift."

Alice frowned. "You're leaving so soon? But it's only 3 in the afternoon!"

"I have a meeting with a very important woman," Alfred told her, making a show of checking his watch. ("How old school of you," Alice muttered under her breath, and he shook it off with a look shot at her.) "We are going to discuss getting the newbie dolphin a prosthetic. Most of which you couldn't understand because you get the actual job of working with the dolphins."

Alfred tried to end the conversation on this note, but Alice wasn't having it. "Excuse me?" she asked with mock offense laced in her tone. "I'll have you know I know just as much as you when it comes to dolphins. You haven't even swam with one."

"And you haven't worked with one in a lab," Alfred countered. "I'd like to see you with a scalpel and some forceps, but I don't think that would end up well."

The image of Alice committing surgery on an animal made him crack up a little. One of his old classmates from a lab study used to fling the eggs everywhere when they did practice openings on small frogs. It may have been disgusting to their professor, but it was funny to Alfred, picturing naive silly Alice throwing a bunch of caviar/tadpole shaped balls of slimy animals at one of his teammates. 

“What are you laughing about now?” she asked. “Is there something on my face?”

“No, no,” he said, clearing his throat and finally catching himself. “Just had a funny image pop up in my brain that involves you and a bunch of surgery equipment.”

“Ewww,” Alice fake barfed. “You are disgusting, dude. Is that how you talk to girls?”

Alfred laughed. “I don’t talk to girls, Alice. Even if I am standing here speaking to this thing, I’m afraid I don’t.”

“Call me a thing one more time, I swear.”

“Okay,” Alfred said with a grin on his face. “...Thing.”

With another look of mock offense, she gasped, before whistling loudly in a manner that resembled a dolphin’s cry. Sound waves, he mentally supplied to his train of thought. Noises that a dolphin could respond to in whatever manner said animal was addressed in-

Nicholas splashed him in the face with his blowhole, spraying water in his face like a nerf gun before heading back in the water. Alice was sent into a laughing fit, leaning over and bawling with laughter as Alfred swatted at his face. His hair was practically soaked by now, and if it wasn’t, his face and his clothes were. “You look so stupid with your hair soaked,” she bawled out, water swishing as she banged on the bank of the pool in laughter. 

“I guess it’s good spirited payback,” Alfred told her, wiping at his face with his lab coat. “You are so lucky that I have my gym clothes in my trunk.”

“What, you’re gonna walk around in those?”

“Not in here. Probably going to head back home to get a change of clothes though,” he told her. “No difference between those clothes and your swimming outfit, though.”

“And there is no difference between helping me in the Turtle Bay and _ditching me to talk to Alice in Wonderland,_ ” Nigel yelled from down the hall, and Alfred perked up from where he was leaning onto the railing to speak to Alice. “Where have you been, Alfred?”

Alfred turned from where he stood. “Oh,” he muttered. “Nigel. What brings you looking for me?”

“Nothing, nothing,” he said. “You kinda left me hanging with the turtles to doo-wop with Alice. Which kinda sucks, but I do love spending time with them without your science babble. Your shift is almost up though.” 

He checked his watch. _Crap, it was almost 3:30._ Alfred had to head to the hospital and speak to Doctor Dedwin about the dolphin’s tail prosthetic. Quite the party pooper, but things were to be done. 

Smiling, he turned towards Alice. “I’m afraid I’ll have to be leaving as of now. Dedwin has a very tight schedule and I’m making sure that I don’t disturb her.”

“Oh no,” Alice smiled back, swatting the air as if to shoo him off. “Please go, nobody’s holding you back!”

Smirk on his face, he kicked some water on the floor in Alice’s face. “What, are you enjoying this conversation?”

Nicholas zoomed out of the water with a squeak, his blowhole ready to squirt more water in his face, before Alfred bolted into the backroom to avoid getting sprayed like an idiot.

The doctor was not who he expected. 

A cat lady, perhaps. Judging by the cat print on her lanyard and the cheshire cats scattered on her work scrubs, she was definitely a cat lady. _At least she was being lowkey about it_ , Alfred thought, thinking back to Alice Spencer and her stupid face swimming around with the dolphins underwater where everyone could see through the glass. He was sure he saw Alice dangle the raw shrimp the dolphins were supposed to eat over her mouth - and Miss Dedwin didn’t seem to be eating salmon for lunch today. 

“So let’s get this straight,” Tabatha started through a mouthful of her turkey and cheese. “You want me to develop a prosthetic… for a dolphin?”

Alfred nodded, papers sitting in his Manila folder as he fiddled with the collar of his dress shirt. “Look, I know it’s unheard of, but-”

“I’m in,” she chirped. “What is there to do?”

For a woman with such a strict schedule, she seemed so interested so quickly. That meant good things for Alfred, who whipped out the folder full of X-rays and MRI scans of the dolphin's tail. Tabatha surfed through each one of them as Alfred explained a few details, even providing his legal pad for Tabatha to jot down notes. When he brought out a picture of the crab trap, she winced - “those fuckers must’ve hurt.”

Still, she remained resilient, brainstorming a few prosthetic ideas. “We don’t want to insert anything into the dolphin’s flesh,” she told Alfred, who listened with an open mind on all this prosthetic speak. “We can, however, apply suction. The end where the tail isn’t as sewed up, yes?”

“Yeah,” Alfred said. “Inserting something could jostle the dolphin’s nerve even more, so I suggest we try suction. We don’t have any prosthetic specialists though.”

Tabatha clicked her mouth. “That’s it - our second problem. First one is actually developing the material and a system for said dolphin to wear the tail.”

“That’s two problems.”

She shrugged. “Oh well, then. Let’s get through with this - who works with the dolphins?”

Alfred thought about it, before Alice and her loud voice popped in his head again. Tabatha saw the expression on his face shift and laughed knowingly. “I’m guessing you two have history?”  
  


“I spoke to her like two hours ago, I’m sure we have history,” Alfred mumbled, head in his hands. “Does she have to be involved in this?”

“‘Fraid so, unless you have anybody else,” Tabatha shrugged with a wistful smile. “We need someone who actively works with the dolphin so that they can keep track of its tail. How is she with the rest of your patients?”

Strange that she called the animals _patients_ , but he got his brain back in tune after a second of being thrown off. “Phenomenal, actually. Our long time veteran Nicholas actually gets along with her like a saint. I was speaking to her earlier and she even got the dolphin to blow me instantly.”

“...What?”

“Out of the blowhole,” Alfred choked out, a little shaken from the context Tabatha was taking his statement, but she just laughed it off and took a sip of her drink. “You know, I wouldn't normally take to my coworkers, but you seem nice.”

Tabatha smiled. “Thank you, Alfred I presume?”

“Yeah,” he affirmed, collecting all his pictures back in the Manila folder. “And I also presume that you have a prosthetic surgery to get to in the next hour?”

She nodded. “You are one thrifty man,” she commented. “I’ll contact Butridge to set up a time when we can speak. If you don’t mind, I’ll need to look over some of the X-ray photos to get an insight on how I want this operation to go.”

“Of course, of course,” Alfred nodded. 

After being walked out of the complex, they exchanged numbers and set up the next Wednesday to speak to each other about the new dolphin. Driving back home, Alfred couldn’t help but stave over every mishap he made during their conversation. _Blow me instantly?_ Great job actually speaking to a human, Alfred Hallam. A Facebook bot would like to befriend you. 

At least he wasn’t trying to woo her, Alfred thought, and then he cringed because his history in the dating pool was not something he liked to think about. He had an ex from college - Dodgy Dawkins was the name, he remembered - and that was the first and last thing he could’ve ever had, aside from a few girls who crushed on him in high school. They reminded him so much of Alice-

Alice. Preppy, fun, loud, and extroverted Alice Spencer. _This was not the 7th time he thought about her today._

He banged his head against the car horn, startling an old man in front of him. 

___

“So,” Alfred began, hands on the neck of the sea turtle he was currently assisting. “Did you check on the mother turtle? We need to make sure she and her babies alright, especially at-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nigel muttered, scooping out a spoon of seagrass covered with a certain amount of nutrients his turtle needed. “I took care of them all yesterday when you were off playing Romeo to Alice’s Juliet, Mr. I Don't need help.”

Alfred rolled his eyes, continuing to check up on all the sea turtles. “I do hope you know I’m not trying anything on her,” he told Nigel. “We’re just coworkers.”

“Yall aint friends?”

“Eh,” Alfred shrugged. “She’s a tad too loud-”

“Who’s talking about me?!”

Jumping from his spot near the turtles, he turned and quickly held up his stethoscope to whoever stood at the door. It was Alice, who waved happily and skipped over next to him. She was still in her diving suit, sleeves rolled up as she dripped all over the place. Alfred winced at the entirety of her figure, and she frowned. 

Alice jabbed a thumb in Alfred’s direction, turning towards Nigel. “What’s up with mister scientist over here?”

“My name is Alfred,” he complained slightly, narrowing his eyes towards her. “What brings you here?”

“Duh,” Alice rolled her eyes, and Alfred raised his eyebrows because he didn’t know what the _duh_ was meant to imply. “I’m working with you guys today. Clarissa and Angus are in the lab with Winter.”

He shrugged indifferently, scooting over and allowing Alice the healthiest turtle. “Make sure it’s healthy. And only feed it about- wait, who’s Winter?”

“Not a who,” Alice stated. “But _what_ , in your terms. Winter is definitely a who to me, and she is about to become your favorite dolphin.”

“She?”

“The one with the tail that got caught in the crab trap,” Alice stated matter of factly, giving the small turtle a little pap before placing it back by its mother. “Aw crap, I’m gonna miss these little buggers. What a shame that they’re going.”

At the change in topic from dolphins to turtles, Nigel smiled, happy to talk about them. They planned on releasing them back into the wild slowly, moving from the inner enclosures where the public could see and interact with them to the outdoor area near the pier. For the purposes of rehabilitating this specific species, Nigel would have to put them out in about a month or so.

He admired it, though. How his coworkers managed to build such bonds with the animals - with each other even more, honestly - as if they were old friends. Watching Alice listen attentively to Nigel ramble about a bunch of turtle facts while he checked on their eyes, he actually kinda felt happy to work with them. 

_Working with Alice,_ the demon on his shoulder supplied his brain, and he flicked it off with a glare and continued checking up on the turtle in his palm. He’d blame it on the energy she brought into the room, almost contagious, sorta like sunshine. 

Oh well, he shrugged, placing the baby turtle down and taking another one. The three of them had worked in silence now, Alice with her tongue sticking out of the corner of heer mouth and her brow furrowed in concentration. “Who named the dolphin?” Alfred asked for the sake of filling in the silence. 

“...What?”

“You heard me,” Alfred joked. “Who named it Winter?”

“Oh,” Alice responded, a strange noise for someone who always had the answer. “Well, I did. After my mother’s favorite season.”

Now it was his turn to say _oh -_ that was actually really heartfelt of her. “I think it sounds beautiful,” he complimented. “The name, of course. I’m personally more of an autumn person.”

“So am I,” Alice giggled. “It’s so cold in winter. I never understood why she liked it, but we moved down here to Florida because my dad didn’t like the cold. She’d drag us up north every Christmas though, just so we could see the snow, but I’ve never liked it too much. ‘S too cold to swim.”

“You can say that again,” Alfred agreed, turning back to the dolphin he was tending to. Alice seemed to smile ear to ear, satisfied with his answer.

And in that moment, perhaps he could say he was friends with Alice. In the short time that they had conversed, Alfred learned something about her family. She was sweet about it, talking with the look of a child’s love and endearance for their parents, a look he knew all too well when he talked about his. _He missed his too._

The turtles all waddled towards their mother, crawling onto the back of her shell. Alfred smiled - 

He really didn’t hate Alice Spencer and her dolphins. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! please leave a kudo or a comment. <3


End file.
